News

Thursday, June 29, 2017

Supreme Court Reinstates Partial Travel Ban

On Monday, June 26, 2017 the Supreme Court issued a ruling that allows elements of President Trump's immigration travel ban to go into effect for some travelers, but it also applied significant restrictions that will narrow the order's impact.

"The government's interest in enforcing (the ban), and the executive authority to do so, are undoubtedly at their peak when there is no tie between the foreign national and the United States," the court said in its unsigned opinion. However, it also stated that the ban "may not be enforced against foreign nationals who have a credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States." A bona fide relationship may include that between a foreign national and a U.S. spouse, close family member, employer or university. Further clarification regarding what constitutes a bona fide familial relationship was issued by the administration, and reported by The New York Times.

The 90-day travel ban on visitors from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen as well as the 120-day ban on all refugees were allowed to proceed, except for those individuals who can demonstrate a bona fide relationship as described above.

Two previous iterations of the travel ban were halted by injunctions issued by federal courts, and the Supreme Court is set to hear the case in October. For specific questions regarding your personal situation, please contact the SIL attorney with whom you are working. For more general inquiries, please contact us at info@sostrinimmigration.com.